Automatic stripping machine for folding box work



A. VERNIMB Nov. 27, 1934.

AUTOMATIC STRIPPING MACHINE FOR FOLDING BOX WORK Filed July 20, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N V EN TOR.

fll/GUST VIKN/MB.

A. VERNIMB Nov. 27, 1 934.

AUTOMATIC STRIPPING MACHINE FOR FOLDING BOX WORK INVENTOR.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 M m M KMW fi uw w 2 Wm w- Nov. 27, 1934. A. VERNIMB 1,981,974

AUTOMATIC STRIPPING MACHINE FOR FOLDING BOX WORK Filed July 20, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 WWII lllllllll w p 'ullmmur .fllllll llllllln llllll llW/AHIIIIII INVENTOR AUGUST VfAN/MB.

w la y m illlllllliZ .IIIIIIIIH m fixx IIIIIIIII /AIIIIIIIIIN 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 A. VERNIMB Filed July 20, 1931 R.B. Y. m m N R EMA. MO W m QU J v 6 a m M a 0% A a a W AUTOMATIC STRIPPING MACHINE FOR FOLDING BOX WORK Nov. 27, 1934.

Patented Nov. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES AUTOMATIC STRIPPING MACHINE FOR FOLDING BOX WORK August Vernimb, Mount Vernon, N. Y. Application July 20, 1931, Serial No. 551,953

16 Claims.

My invention deals with a machine for auto matically stripping the waste strip from folding box blanks as they come from the cutting and creasing apparatus.

This work has heretofore been done by hand. The card boards, after they have been cut and creased, issue upon a pile delivery on which they are stacked up. The boards are manually taken from this pile and the folding box blanks are separated from the waste strips by hand, sometimes with the help of hammers or special tools. It requires two or more men to strip and separate the card boards delivered from one cutting and creasing machine. Not only is this a costly process but it also requires space, and coordination of operations. The greatest disadvantage of the old method is, however, that the hammering or the use of other tools to sever the blanks from the strips often damages the blanks, tearing them, leaving fringes and scratching their surface.

Hence the problem of an automatic machine to do this work has been considered very often but it heretofore has not been solved because of the manifold diiiiculties encountered during the various steps necessary to bring about the separation of the finished folding box blanks from the waste strip. It has been the object of my invention to avoid all the troubles which heretofore prevented a successful automatic operation and I describe in the following a machine which takes the material from a stack or from the cutting and creasing machine, separates the folding boxes from the waste strip and delivers them both on separate piles.

To attain this object I make use of the machinery shown in the accompanying drawings in which,

Figures 1 and 2 are a side elevation and top view, respectively, of my improved stripping machine.

Figure 3 shows the upper and lower carriages on top of each other, in the position in which the separation of the blanks from the strips is brought about. The central part of the carriages is sectioned out in these drawings.

Figure 4 isthe corresponding end view of a front part of those two carriages.

Figure 5 shows an elevation of the sectioned part-assembly of the tools which I incorporate in my device for the actual separating operation.

Figure 6 shows the respective top view. 4

Fig. 7 shows a schematic layout of the machine, in which the relatively movable upper and lower carriages and the parts connected thereto are indicated in solid lines, and the parts of the machine operatively engaging upon said carriages are indicated in dot-dash lines. This view shows the carriages in the initial position which will later on be referred to as position C.

80 Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 show in views similar to the view of Fig. 7, the steps of operation which in rotation follow the step of Fig. 7.

Figs. 8, 9, l0 and 11 show the carriages in positions of alignment, which will later on be referred to as position A, and

Figs. 9, 10 and 11, respectively, show the specific positions of operation which will later on be referred to as positions D, E and F.

The layout of Fig.- 12 is executed in a manner corresponding to that of Fig. '7, but the carriages are shown in a position in respect to each other as well as to the parts of the machine, which will later on be referred to as position B.

Fig. 13 shows, in a manner corresponding to 5 the schematic layout of the preceding six figures, one of the many modifications in which this stripping machine may be executed within the scope of this invention.

Similar numerals refer to similar throughout the several views.

In Figures 1 and 2 the frame consists of two long sections of double tracks 1, the cross section of which is indicated by dot-dashed lines in Figure 4. The ends of these sections are supported by legs 2 which in turn are spaced and securely locked against each other by braces 3 and 4. There are additional legs 5, and cross braces 6 serve as bridges between braces 4 and sections 1, and also support the various shafts.

Parts so My machine must be driven in synchromsm with the cutting and creasing machine. I therefore operatively connect my machine to that machine by positive gearing such as indicated by silent chain 7, so that the main shaft 8 of my machine turns once each time a carton is delivered from the cutting and creasing machine.

There is a pulley 9 at that end of my machine at which the card boards are delivered to it from the cutting and creasing machine. This pulley may be driven from that machine. But in the drawings, in order to make my apparatus a selfcontained unit, I connect that pulley by the belt 10 to the main shaft 8 of my machine. There are brackets 11 on the top of the two tracks on the sides of my machine which support a. wedge 12, the larger end of which faces a roller 13 which is rotative in brackets 11. Between this roller 13 and roller 14 which is driven by pulley 9 there are stretched a number of endless bands 15 onto mounted on pinions 42.

which the card boards are delivered from the cutting and creasing machine.

These bands are smooth and are arranged at a slight angle, feeding the card boards over to one side of my machine where their edges strike the guide plate 16 and, sliding along this plate, glide from the bands 15 onto wedge 12. Upon reaching the end of said wedge the front edges of the card boards strike fingers 17 which, at regular intervals, are mounted upon shaft 18 the angular rotation of which is controlled from a cam 19 on the end of main shaft 8 by means of a lever supported by a crank 20 and an auxiliary crank In the lower track runs the lower carriage with a top plate 22. On the end of that plate is mounted a shaft 23 on which are rotatably mounted fingers 24. These fingers are individually tensioned in a clockwise direction by springs 25 on shaft 23. At their lower ends these fingers have extensions 26 which are normally engaged by the hook 27 at the extreme end of a lever 28 rotatable around a shaft 29 in the sides of the lower carriage; the other end 30 of that lever carries a roller 31. A tension spring 32 normally pulls the lever in clockwise direction so that the hook 2'7 is tensioned over the extensions 26. But

when the lower carriage, traveling along the lower track, comes to the extreme right position of Figure 1 the roller 31 below the carriage strikes the slanted block 33, which is held below the machine by a bridge 34extenoling from one side to the other and fastened at both ends to the bottom side of the double tracks, roller 31 is thus lifted up (Figure 3) and the hook 27 disengages the fingers 26 which come down upon the end of the top 22 of the carriage. These fingers thus grasp the end of the card board which has been fed by the bands 15 against the stop fingers 17; to enable the fingers 24 to hold the card board right down upon table 22 there are clearance cuts 35 in the end of wedge 12.

The lower carriage has, below the plate 22, two racks 36, one on each side, into which mesh the gears 37. On the outsides of those racks are rotatable rollers 38 on which the lower carriage runs along the lower tracks. The upper carriage is shown in Figure 1 at the left top corner of my machine. It rests upon the racks 39 which, like racks 36, carry rollers 40 on their outsides which run in the upper tracks of double tracks 1. Into racks 39 mesh gears 41 which are rotatably Gears 41 mesh into gears 37, which are of the same diameter and which are mounted on a shaft 43 across the machine. On that shaft 43 is also mounted a smaller gear 44 which engages rack 45. That rack 45 is slidable along a slide 46 mounted upon the cross piece 4 of the frame. Onto the end of rack 45 is rotatably hinged the connecting rod 4'1 which, at its other end, is hinged upon a crank pin 48 on the side of the wheel 49 on the end of shaft 8. One endof connecting rod 47 is made up of a sleeve 50 into which fits the smaller part 47 and which is tensionally held there by acompression spring 51. Slide 46 is closed at its right end by a plate 52 which stops the motion of rack 45 to the right, when it has been carried over to that point by the pull of the connecting rod, as crank pin 48 moves to the right upon tension of spring 51 is released until the connecting rod assumes the normal position shown.

When during the motion of the crank pin to the right, the rack 45 strikes the plate 52 and thus brings the motion of the rack to a stop for the. period of a fraction of the time required for one turn of wheel 49, the upper and lower car.- riage, operated by wheels 37 and 41, have moved together to a position exactly on top of each other which is the position of Figures 3 and 4. To absorb the shock of the impact of the rack 45 against plate 52, I have provided a plunger 53 on the end of rack 45 which enters a close fitting hole, closed on the other end, in a hub 54 in the back of plate 52. I may attach similar male and female parts on'the lower and upper slides, re-

spectively, whereby that shock is taken up at those points too and the strain on the gearing is released. I also provide the necessary wedges or guide means by which the carriages are held in the exact position on top of I each other, when the rack 45 reaches its extreme position to the right. Such guide and stop means on the carriages may take the place of the plate 52 as means for stopping rack 45 although I may retain the pneumatic shock absorbing means 53, 54 at that latter point.

There is a plate 55 arranged below plate 22 of the lower carriage as shown in Figures 3 and 4 that plate 55 is retained on the sides by racks 36 and on the ends by the cross pieces 56 which are attached to the bottom of plate 22. Plate 55 is movable in a vertical direction and rests on the four rollers 57, two of which are fastened to the ends of angle levers 58 and the, others to the ends of angle levers 59. Angle levers 59 are fulcrumed in pivots on the insides of racks 36 whereas angle levers 58 are mounted on a shaft 60 the ends of which rotatably rest in those racks 36. The other ends of the angle levers 58 and 59 are operatively connected by cross pieces 61 hinged to them in pivots 62. On the same pivot on which one roller 57 is rotatably attached to the front angle lever 58, is also rotatable a similar, slightly smaller roller 63 which comes to stand on top of cam 64 on the main shaft 8, below the machine, when the two carriages are standing on top of each other in alignment, in the position shown in Figures 3 and 4.

Upon rotation of shaft 8' the protrusion on the periphery of cam 64- will strike roller 63 and raise and lower it. This motion is transferred to all four rollers 57 by means of the shaft 60 and the connecting cross pieces 61; thus the plate 55, maintaining its horizontal position, is lifted up and dropped again by the cam 64. The angle lever 59 has an extension beyond the point at which it supports the roller 57 onto which is journaled roller 65. When the lower carriage comes from the right to its position below the upper carriage, the ends of the extensions 26 on the fingers 24 rest upon the edge of hook 28 as shown in Figure 3, so that the fingers are free to grasp the card board resting on top of plate 22. The roller 65 is raised when angle lever 59 swings in clockwise direction and that roller strikes the slanted backs of fingers 24, pushing them all in counter clockwise directionuntil the ends of extensions 26 slide off the face of hook 28 and are caught in back of that hook as it is pulled in clockwise direction by-spring 32. In this position of the fingers the card board is released.

contained therebelow in accordance with the 111'. ferent cardboards to be handled, I do not utilize that plate 66 to hold racks 39 in such manner, as plate 22 serves to hold 38. The two racks 39 are therefore spaced from each other by bridges 67 and 68 at the right and left end, respectively, of the upper carriage. A shaft 69 is rotatably supported at its ends by the bridge 67. Upon the end of that shaft is mounted an angle lever 70 which carries on the end of its essentially horizontal arm 71 the roller 72. That roller rests upon the periphery of wheel 49, when the two carriages stand on top of each other. In the periphery of that wheel is provided the cam face 73 which serves to swing the lever arm 71 down and up. When roller 72 rides on the straight face of the periphery of wheel 49 it is at such a level that, upon motion of the upper carriage to the left, it rolls in a horizontal direction right onto the upper edge of a flat piece 74 which by screws and spacers 75 is strapped against the outside of the front double channel 1. At the end of that flat piece 74 there is a sharp incline 76 by which the upper edge of that flat piece is brought down to the approximate level of the top of the double channel 1. Lever 71 serves to move up and down the plates of the upper carriage: the sharp downward movement imparted to it by sliding over the incline 76 drops the plate 77 which holds the card board blanks, whereby a downward push is given to those card board blanks and, the suction holding thembeing simultaneously released, they drop off when the upper carriage is in its extreme position to the left.

The various plates'of the upper carriage are vertically slidable in the angles 78 and 79 which respectively are attached to the bridges 67 and 68 and retain the plates at their four corners. To transfer the motion of angle lever 70 to those plates of the upper carriage, its vertical arm 80 is connected by a cross piece 81 to a lever 82 which is mounted on a short shaft 83 rotatable in bracket 84 on front double channel 1. There is a symmetrical bracket 84 on the opposite double channel carrying on a corresponding shaft 83 a similar lever 82. A similar cross piece 81 operatively connects that lever 82 to a lever 85. That lever is mounted upon the back end of shaft 69 and corresponds in length and shape to the arm 80 of angle lever 70. From the shafts 69 and 83 protrude, on both sides of the machine, smaller levers 86,. four altogether, the rollers 87 on the ends of which support the lowest plate 88 of the upper carriage. That plate has extensions 89 extending from it on the sides by means of which it rests upon those rollers 87. There are longer extensions 90 on the top plate 77 which rest upon rollers 91. These rollers are mounted on the ends of four similar levers 92 which are also mounted on the two shafts 69 and on shaft 83. 8

There are lugs 93 extending from the top of bridge 67 into which is hingeda pipe manifold 94. This pipe manifold serves to provide vacuum to the suckers mounted on plate 77. Being hinged in lugs 93, it may be swung up to a vertical position to allow the plates to be taken out of the machine. Its free end rests on the bridge 68 when it is lowered to be connected to the suckers. The nipple 95 on said manifold, passing through one of the lugs 93, extends over to the back of the machine. At that point a vacuum system may be connected to the manifold by means of rubber hose. Into the vacuum line between the manifold and the pump are introduced suitable valves and bypasses, which are spective position B.

3 controlled by a cam on the main shaft and by means of which the auction may be started and stopped synchronically with the cycle of the machine in the manner customarily employed in the art of making paper boxes.

Extensions on plate 66 rest on lugs 98 which are mounted on the four angles 78 and 79. The plates 77, 86 and 88 are arranged in such a way that they may be lifted out without the removal of any machine parts, the lower plates vertically clearing the rollers and lugs supporting the upper plates. There are stop plates 97 at the lower ends of angles 78 and 79, upon which the lower plate 88 comes to rest when the levers 86 are swung down in counter clockwise direction. Upon the sides of the angles 79 are lugs 98 which carry rotatable levers 99 with rollers 100 below and catches 101 above. The ends of said catches 101 pass through the sides of angles 79 when the levers 99 are swung in counter clockwise direction. The ends of those catches will then protrude below plate 88 and support it when the levers 86 are swung down. This movement of levers 99 towards the machine is brought about by the guide strips 102 extending from the top of the double channels 1 towards the inside of the machine, the roller 100 running along these strips. Corresponding levers 108 with similar rollers 100 are rotatably mounted on the angles 87 which also carry catches on their upper ends which extend through the angles, below the plate 88 when it is raised high enough. Angle levers 103 are also operated from the guide strips 102.

The similar sections of straight lines shown above Figure 1 indicate lengths of card boards in the positions corresponding to their various positions in which I perform operations on them while they are supported by or suspended from the lower and upper carriage, respectively. A indicates the position of the card board when the two carriages are on top of each other. B,B represent the positions of the upper and lower carriage, after they have moved apart, to the left and the right, respectively, for about half their lengths. It will be noticed that the card board B, suspended at the left position B from the upper carriage, vertically clears the lower carriage in its re- These positions B are only intermediary positions between the extreme positions C of the carriages. In these extreme positions C the card boards again clear the positions of the card boards at B.

The respective positions of the plates 22, 55, 66, 77 and 88 at the time the carriages are in the positions A, B and C, are diagrammatically indicated at the right of Figure 4. I also show the respective positions of those plates, during the operations in the position A, by the vertical diagrammatic alignments D, E and F. Figures 1 and 2 show the carriages in the positions C. Figures 3 and 4 show the carriages and plates in vertical alignment, in the position A. Figures 5 and 6 show on their left sides the plates in the position F. The right side of Figure 5 shows the plates 22 and 55 in their relative positions at A, B, C, D and E and the upper plates 66, 77 and 88 in their relative positions at B.

. The whole surface of plate 22, to the extent to which it is covered by the largest card boards, has a regular pattern of holes 104 which are surrounded by interlocking circular grooves 105. This pattern of holes 104 in plate 22 has been transposed to plate 55 in alignment below said plate 22' and the corresponding holes 106 are tapped to fit the threaded lower ends 107 of the round arbors 108. The arbor-s 108 carry on their upper ends thin round tables 109. There are holes 110 in the tables 109. By a suitable wrench fitting these holes, the arbors may be screwed into plate 55 so that they rest against that plate at shoulders 111. when the plates 22 and 55 are, relative to each other, in positions A, B, C, D or E, the tables 109 on the upper ends of the arbors rest upon plate 22.

When the upper and the lower carriage are in the alignment of position A, holes 112, 113 and 114 in plates 66, 77 and 88 are in vertical alignment with the pattern of holes 104 in the plates 22. Upon the plate 88 the pin units 115 are assembled. These units 115 are attached to said plate by a hexagon head shoulder screw, with a head 116, a shoulder 117 and a thread 118. The shoulder 117 fits hole 114 in plate 88 and the hexagon head shoulder screw is angularly set in an inverted position 'on said plate by nut 119. There is a hole through said shoulder screw through which slidably fits stem 120 which carries on its upper end a round cap 121, knurled on its rim and with a cone on its top the base of which fits holes 112 in plate 66. At its lower end stem 120 carries an arm 122 from which extends, eccentrically downwards, the sleeve 123. It slidably fits over the pin 124 which is mounted in and extends downward from hexagon head 116. The hole in the center of the inverted hexagon shoulder screw, through which slidably fits stem 120, is counter-bored from the top and in that counterbored hole a compression spring 125 extends over arbor 120. That spring 125 bears at the bottom against the inside shoulder of the counter-bore in the hexagon head shoulder screw and at its upper end rests against knurled cap 121. By this spring on the arbor the arm 122 is normally tensioned against the face of hexagon head 116.

In the top plate 77 are mounted the suckers 126. They comprise a tube 127 which slidably fits holes 112, 113 and 114. There is a shoulder 128 at the upper end of said tube 127 by means of which it is locked in the plate 77 by the nut 129 over its threaded end. The portion 130 of the tube, which extends above said thread, has a nipple shape. Over that nipple fits the rubber hose 131 by which the suckers are connected to the nipples 132 extending downward from the manifold 94. The inside of tube 127 is undercut at its lower end which retains the rubber bushing 133. In the drawings this rubber bushing is shown as bearing against the folding box blanks 134. Its lower face shows therefore fiat, bearing against the flat surface of the card board, but normally that face of the rubber bushing is slightly concave or conically tapered from its rim towards the hole in the center, corresponding to the shape ordinarily given to rubber bushings, which are to suctionally engage fiat surfaces.

Lying on top of the plate 22 is shown, in Figure 6, a section of the card board comprising folding box blanks 134, and the waste strips 135 in between. In setting up my machine I arrange a number of pin units 115 in plate 88 above the approximate outline of the waste strips 135 on the plate 22 below. Then I turn each one of the pin units by manipulation of knurled cap 121 so that the pins 124 come to stand over the center of the strips 135 below (the grooves 105 in plate 22 provide a clearance for the points of pins 124). With the exception of the holes corresponding to the holes in plate 88 into which I have thus inserted pin units 115, I insert into all the holes 104 of plate 22 arbors 108 and screw them down into plate 55 until their shoulders 111 come to rest upon said plate. Then I mount in plate 77 a certain number of suckers 126, ordinarily about four suckers for each folding box blank, these suckers being arranged above the four corners of the folding box blanks below. If the folding box blanks are very large I may use more than four suckers per blank, as many as are required to firmly hold each folding box blank.

Preliminary to giving a full description of the operation of the machine I here describe the separating operation by Figures 5 and 6: The lower carriage, carrying a card board, comes into the position A with the plates 22 and 55' fully apart as shown in the right hand lower corner of Figure 5. The plates 77 and 88 of the upper carriage are at that point of the operation (A) for a short distance lower than the position (B) in which they are shown in the right hand upper corner of Figure 5. From that position (A) the two plates 77 and 88 move together downward until they reach the position they have on the left side of Fig. 5 (position D). The pins on the pin units 115 have now pierced the waste strips on the card board below and plate 88 is retained in this position by the lugs 97 in the lower corners of the angles 78 and 79 on the frame of the upper carriage, whereas the plate 77 continues in its downward movement until its suckers 126 are brought to bear upon the folding box blanks still forming a part of the card board lying on top of plate 22 (position E). By means of the respective cams on the main shaft 8, suction is now applied to the suckers and then the plate 77 starts to move back,upwar ds, to its position on the left side of Figure 5, plate 55 following it by a corresponding upward motion so that the card board boxes, resting upon tables 109 and held by bushings 133, have been carried up to the position (F) on the left of said Figure 5 whereas the waste strips 135 have been held below, just above the plate 22, by pins 124 and sleeves 123. From this point on, plates 77 and 88 move upwards retaining the same position relative to each other, until the caps 121 touch the bottom edges of the corresponding holes 112 in plate 66; here the motion of these two plates stops (position A). While plates 77 and 88 were moving up together, plate 55 was returned downwards to its normal position shown on' the right lower side of Figure 5 (position A). Now the two carriages, which up to this time have been standing on top of each other, start to move apart, the upper carriage carrying the folding box blanks and the waste strips to the left. When the upper carriage passes through the position B, the roller 72, being lifted up by the upward step 136 on the top of fiat piece 74 the plates 77 and 88 are lifted still further up for a short distance. The caps 121, having up to this time just touched plate 66, are pressed towards plate 88 by that additional upward movement of plate 88, springs 125 are compressed, the sleeves 123 sliding down over pins 124, pushing down the waste strip 135 until it falls off the ends of the pins and drops down into a suitable container below the machine at this position B.

The upper carriage in the meantime continues its movement to the left but before it reaches the position C the guide strips 102 on the inside of the double channels 1 have caused the levers 99 and 103 to swing towards the inside of the machine and the respective catches come to protrude below plate 88. When the upper carriage reaches now the position C and the roller 72 rolls down over the incline 76 the top plate 77 is thereby caused to drop whereas the lower plate 88 is retained in its high position by the catches on the ends of levers 99 and 103. The suction in the manifold is released at this point and the folding box blanks drop down upon a suitable pile delivery arranged below the position 0. The folding box blanks stacked up below the machine at C. and the waste strips stacked up below the machine at B may be removed from the backof the machine. V

In the following I coordinate the operations performed on the two carriages upon a card board as it passes through my machine. The moment the card board, issuing from the cutting and creasing machine is carried upon conveyor bands 15 along guide platelfi onto wedge 12 and comes to a stop against fingers 17,.

Left upper carriage Right lower carriage AtC Plates 77 and 68 move down until Flats 55 moves up (Fig. 11, Fig.

the pins on the pin units on plate 33 ierc-e the waste strip part of t a card board lying on top of the lower carriage (position D) (Fig. 9).

Zlate 77 continues downwards alone until its suckers come to rest upon the folding box blanks oi the and board (position E) (Fig. 10).

Suction is applied.

llate 77 moves up, the suckers hold the card board blanks (position F) (Fig. 11).

Hates 77 and 88 move up to- 5 to the leit) and the folding box blanks 134, lying on top oi the tables of the erbors mounted on plate 55, are severed from the waste strips 124 which are retained on plate 22 by the pins.

The fingers 24, holding the waste stripe at the end of the card board onto plate 22, swing away.

Plate 55 moves downward to its normal position. (Position A).

The Ilgwer carriage moves to the ilg gather until the caps on the top of the pin units tench plate 66 (position A).

The upper carriage moves to the left, to position B.

At B (Fig. 12)

l lstes 77 and 88 move up, the sleeves 123 wipe the waste strips 135 off the ends .of the pins (Fig. 5, to the right) and the waste stripe drop down onto a suitable pile delivery below the machine at B. The carriage moves to O.

AtC

The sucker plate 77, holding the Repeat the operation.

folding hon blanks is lowered rapidly to theinll extent of its stroke, while the suction is released. The iolding bosblanks 134 drogedown on to a pile delivery low the machine at c (Fig. 7).

Of course the upward motion of plates 77 and 38 of the upper carriage at B, and the downward motion of plate 77 at 0, both of which movements take place while the carriage travels from the right to the left, are reversed when the carriage travels from the left to the-right, from C to A.

While the card boards, waiting for the arrival of the lower carriage, are stopped by fingers 1'7, the conveyor bands 15 continue in their run, gliding along the bottom of the card boards. If the friction between these conveyor bands 15 and y the card boards is too large, there may be arranged an automatic release on the drive of the conveyor bands which is actuated. by the pressure of the card board against-the stop fingers 1'7 and whichis stopped as soon as the stop fingers swing up. Automatic releases of this kind may consist in friction clutches or brake drums and are well known in the art of feeding sheets of paper and card board.

I have chosen the motion of the upper carriage to the left and of the lower carriage to the right of exactly the same length of stroke; if I also balance their weights to a reasonable extent, the

memento. of the respective masses moving along will balance each other,-whereby a smooth operation of my machine is assured. If such a balancing of the masses is not necessary I may limit the motion of theright lower carriage to the distance necessary to have it emerge from under the upper carriage;' whereas the motion of the upper carriage remains the same.

I may also limit my machine to one reciprocating carriage, the upper one, whereas the sliding or running operation of the lower carriage is replaced by a swing operation around an axis at its right end. V

On the other hand I may construct the machine so that the upper carriage is stationary, the lower carriage moving back and forth as described above, feeding the card boards to that stationary upper carriage from below.' In that case I require means which from opposite sides remove the folding box blanks and the waste strips, respectively, as they alternately drop from that stationary upper carriage.

Many variations are therefore possible in the arrangement of the respective movement of the two carriages or of two units similar to said two carriages. The pith of my patent is however the work done by those two units on the card board when they are in. alignment, facing each other with the card board in between. When the two units are thus on top of each other it is readily seen that'the separate holding of the folding box blanks and of the waste strips does not have to be done entirely from one ofv the units, but there may be a slight variation in my machine by holding said blanks and saidwaste strips, respectively on each of the units. I

I have carried through the description of my machine completely under the presumption that it is coupled directly to a cutting and creasing machine. But, 01 course, I may operate my stripper as an entirely independent machine. If for instance the manufacturer has a satisfactory pile delivery on which the card boards are delivered from the cutting and creasing machine, I may take a pile of such card bcardsand feed them by hand onto my conveyors on the right top of my machine. I may also provide, next to that end of. my machine a position where these piles of card boards are stacked up and then are carried from that pile by suitable suction means onto the conveyors on the end of'my machine.

If my machine is to operate independently, using an independent drive and taking the card boards from a stack as piled up in a pile delivery, and if the machine may be constructed for independent operation only, I may dispense with the stead of having the upper carriage 139 moving between the center of the machine and its left side, I extend its reciprocations across the whole width of the machine, so that in its end positions it aliens with the stationary unit 138 to the left and with the stack of card boards 137 below the machine to the right, respectively. Pile deliveries are constructed today in such a way that the stack of card boards retains its top level, new boards being delivered and added thereto at the bottom of the stack. I use in this machine a similar pile delivery but I reverse its operation so that the stack moves up as the card-boards are taken away from its. top, the level on the top remaining the same. Each time the upper carriage aligns with the stack of card boards below the machine plate 77 is lowered due to an additional drop 141 in cross piece 74, and it picks up by means of the suckers 126 shown in my drawings, and possibly with the help of additional suckers 140, one of the card boards 137. Then it moves across the full length of the machine to the position C on the left side, aligning there with the stationary unit 138 below. In that position, the suckers on the upper carriage move downward with the card board which they are holding, until said card board comes to rest on the stationary unit. Still remaining in that position of alignment of the upper carriage with the stationary unit, the card boards are separated into the two levels of folding box blanks 134 and waste strips 135 by the operation which I performed in the drawings at the position A in the center of the machine. After the. blanks and the waste strips have been separated, suspended at different levels from the suckers and the pins, respectively, the upper carriage 139 starts to travel back to the right end of the machine. While it thus travels to the right it successively comes to stand in two intermediary positions. While the carriage passes over the left position, the waste strips 135 are removed from the ends of the pins upon a downward movement of the sleeves on said pins, in the same way as shown before. When the carriage is over the right intermediary position the suction is released and by an auxiliary jerk of the holding means (drop '76) the folding .box blanks fall down, piling up on stack of blanks 134. When the upper carriage comes to the end of one full cycle it is again on top of the stack of card boards 13'! to the right and repeats the cycle.

In the drawings I have chosen the simplest forms of operative means to bring about the desired motions of the various parts of my machine. Not to encumber the discernment of the reader I limit myself, for instance, to the illustration of gravitational means for the downward motion of the various plates; in practice, however, I make these downward operations positive by having the respective rollers operate in grooves on the plates or by substituting for the single rollers two rollers, in each instance, between which the respective plates are guided. Similarly I replace the face cams by box cams so that all motions are positively controlled.

For simplicitys sake I have also combined in various instances the controlling means of different parts in one, which of course may be substituted by separate means to control each movement. So for instance the two movable plates of the upper unit are operated by the same levers whereas I may use independent lifting levers for each plate which are controlled from separate cams.

As means to bring about the reciprocating motion of the two carriages I use an eccentric on the main shaft. These means. of operation may be substituted by suitable cams, allowing a perfect control of the time the carriages spend in each position of their operation. The reciprocating motion may also be brought about by screw feeds with automatic reversing means on the ends of the strokes or other mechanical means used today to bring about a motion back and forth. It is readily seen that the two units may glide in suitable slides instead of running on ball bearing rollers; They may also be operated back and forth in a slight arc, suspended on the ends of suitable levers, in catapult fashion. Corresponding to the use of the mechanical arts I may also use different means in the gearing proper, substituting the various racks and pinions.

Many variations may be brought about in the construction of a machine embodying the principles of my improvements. Therefore I do not claim the machine as shown in the drawings but I desire basic protection on the rotation of positive steps which represent a reliable method of separating the folding box blanks and the waste strips cut in a card board.

I claim:

1. In a stripping machine for separating the blanks cut in a card board from the waste strips surrounding said blanks, means for aligning said card board in operating position, means for independently gripping said blanks and said waste strips, means for separating the levels of said blanks and said waste strips by changing the relative positions of the respective gripping means, and means for separately releasing said waste stripsand said blanks from their respective gripfrom each other so that their faces clear each other, means for aligning said card boards on one of said units when they are apart, said card boards being carried along by said latter unit so as to come to rest between said two units when they face each other in alignment, means on said units for independently gripping said blanks and said waste strips when said units are in alignment, and means for separately releasing said blanks .and said waste strips after said units have parted each other, means for aligning said card boards on one of said units when they are apart, 'said card boards being carried along by said latter unit so as to come to rest between said two units when they face each other in alignment, means on said units for independently gripping said blanks and said waste strips when said units are in alignment, and means for separately releasing said blanks and said waste strips after said units have parted from each other.

4. A machine of the kind described, operating on card boards divided into blanks and waste strips, comprising a frame, a driving mechanism on said frame, an operating unit, a receiving unit, means for placing said card boards upon said receiving unit in a registering position, means operated from said driving mechanism, for bringing said units to face each other in alignment, pins on said operating unit aligning with said waste strips in said card board on said receiving unit when said unitsare in said alignment, sleeves on said pins from which the points of the pins protrude, suction means on said operating unit facing said blanks in said card boards on said receiving unit when said units are in said alignment, means for lowering from said operating unit said pins and said suction means until they are engaged in and with said card board on said receiving unit when said units are in said alignment, lifting means below said blanks on said receiving unit, means for coextensively raising said lifting means and said suction means holding said blanks between them when said units are in said alignment, means in cycle with said driving mechanism placing said units out of alignment, means for moving said sleeves over the points of said pins thus releasing said waste strips and means for finally releasing said blanks from said suction means.

5. A machine of the kind described, operating on card boards divided into blanks and waste strips by a cutting machine, comprising a frame, a driving mechanism on said frame coupled to, and synchronized in cycle with, said cutting machine, an operating unit, a receiving unit, means for placing said card boards upon said receiving unit in a registering position, means operated from said driving mechanism for bringing said units to face each other in alignment, pins on said operating unit aligning with said waste strips in said card board on said receiving unit when said units are in said alignment, sleeves on said pins from which the points of the pins protrude, suction means on said operating unit facing said blanks in said card boards on said receiving unit when said units are in said alignment, means for lowering from said operating unit said pins and said suction means until they are engaged in and with said card board on said 'eceiving unit when said units are in said alignment, lifting means below said blanks on said receiving unit, means for coextensively raising said lifting means and said suction means holding said blanks between them when said units are in said alignment, means in cycle with said driving mechanism placing said units out of alignment, means for moving said sleeves over the points of said pins thus releasing said waste strips and means for finally releasing said blanks from said suction means.

6. In a machine of the kind described, operating on card boards divided-into blanks and waste strips, a frame, a driving mechanism on said frame, double tracks on the sides of said frame, an upper and a lower unit movable along said tracks, operative connections between said units and said driving mechanism, means for temporarily retaining said units in registering position, separate retaining means for said blanks and said waste strips on said units, and operative connections between said separate retaining means and said driving mechanism.

7. In a machine of the kind described, operating on card boards divided into blanks and waste strips, a frame, a driving mechanism on said frame, an upper and a lower unit reciprocatingly suspended in said frame, means for temporarily retaining said units in registering position, separate retaining means. for said blanks and said waste strips on said units, operative connections between said separate retaining attached to said plates operatively extending into the space between said units.

9. In a stripping machine for folding box blanks of the kind described,'parallel perforated plates movable towards and away from each other, pin units mounted in the perforations of one of said plates, pins eccentrically mounted on and extending from said pin units, slides movable in said pin units in the direction of said pins and operatively engageable with said other plate, and sleeves mounted on said slides and slidable on said pins.

10. In a stripping machine for folding box blanks of the kind described, an operating unit comprising a'vertically stationary plate, a parallel bottom plate, a parallel top plate, registering holes in said plates, means for moving said plates in respect to each other in the direction in which said holes register, pins eccentrically mounted in and extending below said bottom plate, sleeves slidable on said pins, slides connected to said sleeves and operatively extended to the bottom of said stationary plate, suction tubes mounted on said top plate, and suction means on the bottom of said suction tubes below said bottom plate.

11. In a stripping machine for folding box blanks of the kind comprising a vertically stationary top, a parallel lower plate, registering holes in said top and said plate, means for moving said lower plate in respect to said stationary top in the direction in which said holes register, detachable arbors in said lower plate and tables on the ends of said arbors above said stationary top.

12. In a stripping machine for folding box blanks of the kind described, a receiving unit comprising a vertically stationary top, a parallel lower plate, registering holes in said top and said plate, means for moving said lower plate in respect to said stationary top in the direction in which said holes register, detachable arbors in said lower plate, levers on said stationary top for lifting said lower plate, fingers rotativelv mounted on one side of said stationary top, individual tension means on said fingers causing them to bear down on said stationary top, an arbor operatively connected to said levers, extensions on said fingers engageable by said arbor, a lever with a hook mounted below said stationary top and tensioned to engage the ends of said extensions of said fingers, and a roller on the free end of said lever with ahook.

-13. In a machine of the kind described, operdescribed, a receiving unit ating 'on card boards divided into blanks and tween said driving mechanism and said operating unit reciprocatingly moving said operating unit between a positionon top of said driving mechanism over said means for receiving said waste strips and a position over said means for receiving said blanks, an operative connection between said driving mechanism and said receiving unit reciprocatingly moving said receiving unit between a position over said driving mechanism and a position below said feeding mechanism the reciprocations of said receiving unit being opposite to the reciprocations of said operating unit, means for receiving said card boards from said feeding mechanism when in a position below said feeding mechanism, means for aligning said receiving unit below said operating unit in said position over said driving mechanism, means for separately transposing said waste blanks and said waste strips from said receiving unit to said operating unit in said position of alignment, means for releasing said waste strips from said operating unit when it passes in its reciprocating motion over said means for receiving said waste strips, and means for releasing said blanks from said operating unit when in said position over said means for receiving said blanks.

14. The process of separating the blanks cut in a card board from the waste strips surrounding said blanks comprising the successive operations of placing said card board onto a platform, holding said waste strips onto said platform, lifting mam-n 15. A machine for stripping waste strips from blanks cut and contained with said strips in a board, comprising a first gripper engaging said blanks, a second gripper engaging said strips, a

mechanism relatively moving said grippers engaged upon said blanks and strips substantially at right angles to said board whereby said blanks and said strips are separated, means transversely moving said grippers together, substantially at right angles to the direction of their relative movement, and means releasing said strips and said blanks from the respective engaging grippers at relatively spaced positions during said transverse movement.

16. A machine for stripping waste strips from blanks cut and contained with said strips in a board and delivering same from a receiving position to delivery position which are transversely spaced relative to each other and to said receiving position, comprising a gripper engaging upon said blanks, a gripper engaging upon said strips, a mechanism relatively moving said grippers engaged upon said blanks and strips whereby. said blanks and said strips are separated, means moving said grippers over and relatively' to said positions, and means releasing said strips and said blanks from the respective engaging grippers at said relatively spaced positions.

AUGUST VERNIMB. 

